Texas Proud (Vincente 2) (31 page)

Noble shook his head. "Nothing. I thought for a
moment that someone that Rachel called. No.
It's probably only the wind."

Noble opened the door, and the wind was so
strong it almost drove him and Alejandro backward. An urgency gripped him as he swung into
the saddle and rode in the direction Rachel would
have taken. If she had stayed in a straight line, he
might find her, if not no, he wouldn't allow himself to think about that possibility.

Alejandro stayed close to his side, fearing they
would be separated in the storm.

Noble felt the moment the wind shifted from
the north to the east and died down somewhat,
making it easier to see. His face was grim as he
searched right and left. If Rachel had been lost in
this storm, they had to find her soon, or it would
be too late.

Perhaps it was already too late. His heart
clenched like a fist and hammered against the wall
of his chest. No, he would know it if Rachel were
dead.

Rachel moaned and tried to shut out the persistent voice that kept calling her name. She just
wanted to be left alone. Go away, she thought.
Had she said it aloud? She couldn't be sure. Then
again, she might be dreaming.

She felt warmth cover her and spread throughout her body. Then she thought she heard a shot
and a faint whinny from Tanner's horse. Had
someone put the poor animal out of its misery?
But then again, she might be delirious.

Rachel tried to open her eyes but it took too
much effort. She had the sensation of being lifted
onto a horse, and someone was holding her
against his body. She buried her face against the
person's neck and drifted away again.

"Rachel, stay awake-stay with me. It's just a
short ride to the line cabin."

She clearly heard Noble's voice, or had she conjured him up in her need for him?

"Rachel." Noble shook her this time. "Don't go to sleep. Talk to me. Come on." His voice was insistent. "Talk to me, Rachel."

"I called for you," she said without opening her
eyes.

"I know you did, Rachel." He was too concerned
that she might die to wonder how he had heard
her calling him all the way from Casa del Sol.

"You're falling asleep on me again, Rachel.
Fight the sleep. You can do it."

"No." She batted his hand away. "I don't want
to.

"Think of how angry you are with me, Rachel,"
he told her. "Think about the reason you came to
Casa del Sol when you knew a storm was coming."

"Yes, angry." It was such an effort to speak, but
she wanted to tell him how she felt before she surrendered to the arms of peaceful sleep. "You hurt
me.

"Tell me what I did."

She could feel the horse moving beneath them,
but everything was so fuzzy. Darkness hovered
over her like an ominous cloud. Why wouldn't Noble let her sleep?

Noble looked down at Rachel with fear in his
heart. The strands of her hair were frozen and
matted with ice. He brushed snow from her face,
hoping his horse knew where the hell it was going,
because he couldn't see ten feet ahead of him. The
line cabin was in the vicinity, but in such a storm
he could easily miss it.

His worry at the moment was to keep Rachel awake or she might succumb to the cold. He knew
enough about her temperament to realize that if
he made her angry enough, she would certainly
fight back.

"Rachel, only a very foolish woman would venture out in such weather."

She did not respond.

He tried another tactic. "Have you no heart?
Don't you care about the people who are worried
about you? What about Winna Mae? She must be
beside herself with worry. You are selfish, Rachel."

Still she gave no response.

"Rachel, have you considered Zeb? He's set himself up as your faithful watchdog. Think how worried he is at the moment."

No reaction.

He had to make her angry so she would respond
to him. "Rachel, I thought your father taught you
better than to come out in such weather. He
would be disappointed in you at the moment."

With effort, she dragged her eyes open and
glared at him. "I despise you, Noble."

He laughed and held her closer. "Despise me,
hate me, my dearest Green Eyes, but keep talking
to me-come on, talk! Tell me how much you
loathe me."

She moaned and pushed his hand away. Why
wouldn't he leave her alone so she could sleep?

Noble spoke close to her ear. "Talk to me, Ra chel. You can't go to sleep because you may never
wake up."

"You..." She tried to shake her head, to push
him away again, but she was too weak. "Sleep. I
need"

She had gone limp in his arms, and he shook
her violently.

"God, no, Rachel. No!"

Rachel floated on a cloud of warmth and didn't
want to open her eyes. For several minutes she
just listened to the sounds around her, trying to
identify them. She heard the crackling of a fireplace, the sound of sleet peppering a window,
someone moving about quietly so as not to disturb
her.

She opened her eyes halfway, peering through
veiled lashes. She lay on a narrow cot in some
kind of crude cabin. The walls were made of unfinished logs. Her hands brushed against and
identified a woolen blanket that covered her.
Whoever was here with her-she couldn't see who
it was-placed something hot on the blanket next to her feet, and the delicious warmth worked its
way up her legs.

Now the person stepped into her view and she
recognized Noble, although his back was to her.
He lifted a stone from the embers of the open fireplace with iron tongs and wrapped it in heavy
cloths. When he turned toward her, she quickly
closed her eyes. He placed the stone at her back,
and the same warmth she'd felt at her feet spread
through her upper body.

His footsteps moved to the side of the bed, and
her eyes swept open to focus upon a pair of black
Spanish boots. Her gaze went to his face and he
smiled down at her.

He knelt beside her, placing his hand on her
shoulder. "You had me worried for a time. How
do you feel?"

Her eyes slid shut, and nothing could have induced her to open them. She floated on boundless
warmth, drifting somewhere between reality and
dreams.

She sighed in her sleep, and the worried frown
on Noble's face eased. Rachel seemed to be sleeping naturally. She really was going to be all right.
He sat beside the fire, his booted feet propped on
the iron grate, his eyes on Rachel. When had she
become so important to him? Why did he feel
such an empty void, as if he were not a whole man
unless he was with her? He'd been frantic when
he thought he'd lost her in the storm. Did he be lieve in love, the lasting kind? He knew that his
feelings for Rachel were strong, although he was
not ready to call it love.

A slight smile curved his lips. She was like no
other woman he'd ever known, obstinate, proud,
sometimes foolishly rushing into danger with no
thought for her safety. She could be fierce and
deadly, like the time she defended him in Tascosa
Springs, or she could be stunningly beautiful, like
the night of the dance. Then she could be soft and
desirable, like the night they made love by the
Brazos and she matched his lovemaking with an
equal passion.

Memories of that night swirled around in his
head, and he closed his eyes. He must not dwell
on that not now. He had to find something for
her to eat, something hot to heat her inside.

On a dusty shelf, he found several tins of beans,
so he heated them in the iron pot suspended above
the fire. He ladled some into a chipped blue bowl,
and approached Rachel.

"I have something for you to eat, Rachel." He
went down on his knees beside her. "Come on,
wake up."

She opened her eyes and looked at the bowl.
"What is it?"

He shrugged. "I'm afraid all we have is beans.
But they will at least be hot and nourishing."

She pushed his hand away. "I don't want any."

"Nonetheless, you must eat." He raised her with
one arm while balancing the bowl in his other hand. Although he supported Rachel, her head fell
forward against his chest. He set the beans aside
and held her close to him.

"I hope you realize what a damned foolish thing
you did today, Rachel."

She wanted to push him away from her, and she
wanted to stay snuggled against him. She remained in his arms. "I seem to recall your voice
telling me how foolhardy I was." She pulled back
to look at him and sighed. "Or did I dream that
too? I'm not sure what's real and what isn't. I don't
even know if I'm dreaming now."

He shook with laughter. "This is not a dream."
He nodded at the cabin. "Surely, if you were
dreaming, you'd imagine someplace better than
this."

She pulled away from him when she remembered the reason that she had gone to Casa del Sol.
"Did you pay the taxes on the Broken Spur?" she
asked pointedly.

She felt him stiffen. "We'll talk about that later.
Right now I want you to take at least two bites of
beans and then I'll let you sleep all you want."

"Why is it that everyone always seems to want
me to sleep?" she inquired with irritation.

"I can think of several reasons," he said in a teasing voice-so much like the old Noble she'd
known. "You can't talk when you are asleep."

Instead of laughing at his light banter, she met
his eyes questioningly. "What happened to Tanner's horse?"

"I shot it, Rachel."

It was her fault that a beautiful animal had had
to be destroyed, and the guilt weighed heavily on
her. "Thank you."

After that, she dutifully took several spoonfuls
that he poked at her, wrinkling her nose after
every bite. When she lowered her head to the mattress, Noble arranged the covers about her shoulders.

Noble rose to his full height and gazed down at
her. "The storm let up just before we found you.
Alejandro rode to the Broken Spur to let everyone
know that you are safe." He looked toward the
window. "It's stopped snowing for the moment,
but the wind is still blowing."

She nodded gratefully, forgetting that she was
supposed to be angry with him.

He walked to the small window and stared out
into the encroaching darkness. The clouds had
moved away as quickly as they had come, but
there were other storm clouds hovering in the
east. A dazzling sunset tinted the snow bloodred.

Rachel was docile for the moment, but after a
rest she would be herself again, and unleash her
anger on him. He should have known she'd find
out that he'd paid her taxes. His lips thinned. He
thought he'd been so clever in instructing the tax
assessor just what to tell her. Apparently she
hadn't been fooled for a moment.

He turned back to find her watching him.
"Sleep," he said gently.

And she did.

Noble sat beside her, watching her sleep. Seeing
that she still wore her gloves, he gently worked her
fingers out of them. When he saw the angry burn
marks, he lifted one hand, examined it, and then
did the same with the other. Troubled, he wondered what kind of accident had happened to her.
He touched his lips to one small palm and then
pushed it gently under the wool blanket.

His eyes clouded with speculation. It seemed to
him that too many accidents had been happening
to Rachel lately.

Rachel felt the heat of the fire, and rolling, scorching smoke closed off her breathing. She tried to
run, but her legs wouldn't move. She heard the
sound of the terrified horses as the flames approached their stalls. She wanted to go to them
and open their stalls, but again, she couldn't
move.

She reached the barn door and banged against
it with her hands, but no one could hear her.

"Help me," she cried. "The barn's on fire. For
God's sake, help me!"

Strong hands caught her flailing arms and
clamped onto her wrists. She was pulled against
a hard body and she fought even more.

"Rachel, you're all right. It's only a dream. You
are safe."

She heard Noble's voice and she clutched at his
arm. "Noble, help me-help me!"

One arm held her close while his hand moved
up and down her back soothingly. "Rachel, I'm
here. I won't let anyone hurt you."

She grasped his shirtfront, her breathing labored. "Someone is trying to kill me," she whispered, still in the grip of her nightmare not
asleep anymore, but not yet awake.

Noble picked her up and carried her to a chair
in front of the fireplace and sat down with her on
his lap. His lips touched one closed eyelid and
then the other, as he held her as tenderly as a
baby. "No one can hurt you now, Rachel. I won't
let them."

Rachel snuggled closer to him, needing his
warmth and the assurance that his strong arms
gave her. She drifted in and out of sleep. At last
she opened her eyes. The cabin was in shadows
since the lamp had burned out, and the fire in the
hearth was only smoldering ashes. It took her a
moment to realize she was in Noble's arms.